Mayor

Mayor Wilda Diaz

Wilda Diaz was re-elected as Mayor of the City of Perth Amboy for a third [four-year] term in November 2016. She was first sworn-in on July 1, 2008, becoming the first female to hold that office and currently the only elected Latina mayor in the State of New Jersey.

Since her election in 2008, Mayor Diaz has been at the forefront of issues such as expanding programs for our children, youth and families with the use of limited resources, creating an open and honest government, business expansion, job creation and preserving and restoring the City’s history. This includes her efforts placed towards two of the City’s most utilized historic structures, the Perth Amboy Free Public Library, with nearly $2 million in capital improvements and the redesign plans and preservation of the Perth Amboy Train Station. Furthermore, as a recovery effort from the damage of Supertstorm Sandy over $17 million for renovations and storm mitigation were invested to repair the length of the Perth Amboy waterfront that was completed this year.

Diaz, most importantly has taken an unwavering stance to stabilize the City’s financial condition, as she continues to combat over $200 million of inherited debt. Her administration established a Capital Improvement Program and other cost reducing strategies, which as a result has reduced the overall debt by over $50 million and saving a community from near bankruptcy within the first five years of being in office.

Diaz’s aggressive outreach and promotion of business advocacy has welcomed major corporations to Perth Amboy, such as Viridian Partners and Buckeye Partners totaling over a $600 million of investment-- In addition, to the City’s current largest redevelopment project totaling $180 million of investment, the ePort Logistics Center.

Mayor Diaz is also the first woman elected president and chair of the New Jersey Urban Mayors Association (NJUMA) since January 2014. Her term is dedicated to working with state and federal lawmakers and officials to develop appropriate and effective public policy measures that affect all New Jersey urban communities. She also has served on the League Management Reform Committee for the New Jersey League of Municipalities.

She also currently serves as the Chairwoman for the Perth Amboy Redevelopment Agency (PARA).

Prior to taking office, Mayor Diaz spent 20 years in the banking industry where she started as a teller at a local bank after graduating from Perth Amboy High School in 1983. She quickly rose through the ranks and was an assistant vice-president with Banco Popular when she won the mayoral seat in May 2008 and as a result, resigned from that position.

A dedicated community activist, Mayor Diaz chaired the Board of Trustees for the Jewish Renaissance Medical Center, a nonprofit group that provides health care to underserved communities.

She was a driving force behind the Puerto Rican Patriotic Cultural Committee (Comité Cultural Patriótico Puertorriqueño de Perth Amboy), which sponsors the annual Hall Avenue Puerto Rican festival. Additionally, she served as a member of the Perth Amboy Merchants Association (PAMA) and has been honored by local organizations such as the Puerto Rican Association for Human Development (PRAHD) and the Jewish Renaissance Foundation (JFR) for her involvement in the community.

This year, Diaz received the “Community Leaders of Distinction” award by the Middlesex County Regional Chamber of Commerce. At the end of 2015, NBC Latino and NBC Nightly News released a feature story Diaz, as the “First Woman Mayor of a Changing New Jersey Town.” Additionally, Mayor Diaz received the 2015 LatinoJustice “Latina Trailblazers” award for public service. In 2014, she was honored as “Community Leader” by the Hispanic American Law Enforcement Association and “Humanitarian of the Year” by The Coalition of Hispanic Physicians. Diaz was earlier recognized by El Diario La Prensa as “Mujeres Destacadas 2012” (Outstanding Women of 2012) and was featured in Real Simple Magazine as, “The Accidental Politician” among only four female mayors nation-wide. In 2012, Diaz was also inducted into the Perth Amboy High School Hall of Fame and several months later received the NJ State Association of Chiefs of Police “Professional Law Enforcement Leadership Award.”

Mayor Wilda Diaz is a life-long resident of Perth Amboy and a graduate of Perth Amboy High School. She and her husband Greg have two adult children, Gregory and Samantha.